I've been looking for some sort of cheap 4wd that I can drive from farm to farm, on the back trails and such around my area, hunt etc out of. My truck usually stays clean, and my VW really cant do any of that.

Found a Suzuki Samurai 1987 for what I think to be a decent price. It is painted camo (can you say red-neck?) but has new mud tires, new battery, and is low miles. Only downside is the lost title (easy enough I guess).

I'm not looking to buy this to lift up or get into some serious offroading. Honestly in stock trim it will likely be fine for what I do. However, when I go to look at it this weekend, is there anything other than the obvious to look for?

I keep hearing how bulletproof they are? Truth or no?

Edit: Apparently since the truck has no title, and he bought it without a title from a family member, it looks like a massive headache in the title department.

[Edited on June 22, 2011 at 9:31 PM. Reason : ...]

6/22/2011 9:12:28 PM

get your truck dirty

save money/headaches

6/22/2011 9:16:32 PM

^I own a detail company, thats not good advertising is it now?

6/22/2011 9:21:02 PM

old cheap ratty 4x4s are plentiful. personally, i'd rather have something with a bed where i can throw dead animals and stuff. i say keep looking.

6/22/2011 9:32:45 PM

the old s-10s that are 4wd are solid.

so are the yotas obviously but bring more $$.

[Edited on June 22, 2011 at 9:59 PM. Reason : 4]

6/22/2011 9:58:53 PM

if you go the s10 route, stay away from the 2.8L

4.3 ftw

6/22/2011 10:17:11 PM

Stay away from gm and get you a box ranger or bronco 2.

6/22/2011 11:28:32 PM

the motors and transmissions are bulletproof. i had a 93 sidekick that i HATED and tried my best to kill (ungrateful youth). I never changed or added oil over 40k and every shift was as high as the motor would turn and it ran like a top til the day I sold it

6/23/2011 7:26:12 AM

lol i got nothing on the topic but we had a bike named suzuki samurai in India

6/23/2011 7:55:49 AM

Quote :

"Stay away from gm and get you a box ranger or bronco 2."

After having done many, many engine jobs on S10s and a few on Rangers, I can honestly say that the running gear is pretty solid on the S10, and shit is easy to find and fix. There's nothing wrong with the 2.8 as long as you get an '86 or later, and preferably an '87 TBI engine or newer.

Rangers aren't bad at all, but I don't like the Aisin tranny in the 5sp models.

6/23/2011 9:12:09 AM

28mpg vs 16mpg. Is this something you'll be driving often?

6/23/2011 10:02:58 AM

talks of asain trannies itt

ive done too many 2.2l motors im fed up with them. (i know its not a 2.8)

6/23/2011 10:11:33 AM

samurai's are good for what they are... but:

- small axles
- stock gearing is not ideal
- 1.3L carb motor... better regear


however good ones are ultra desirable, and go from $2500 up to $4000 depending on state of maintenance.

I've a friend who has a good one with:
- Spring over axle
- 31x10's
- 4.5:1 t-case upgrade (lower overall final drive)
- rear locker
- runs great and has had the engine gone through within the past 2k miles


for sale for $3k, iirc.



This is an example of one of moderate value.

6/23/2011 10:14:04 AM

fuck that shit for $3k

6/23/2011 10:28:08 AM

Quote :

"Only downside is the lost title (easy enough I guess)."

Easy?

6/23/2011 10:41:14 AM

Quote :

"fuck that shit for $3k "

those motors bring a premium a week before race wars.

6/23/2011 11:35:33 AM

I'll be driving this often, but only 5-10 miles at a time. My family has a large amount of land spread out on our road, and this leads us to driving to different fields, off road, carrying people/gear etc. Right now I'm burning the roads up in my jetta shooting deer off the bean fields to keep the damage to the crop down.

Yeah, this one would be ok for what I need I'm sure except the lost title thing. Upon even further research, it seems as this could be a *major* pain in the ass to deal with.

Probably just cheaper to ride the atv from farm to farm anyway. Just gets a big akward with 2 guys on a Honda fourwheeler

6/23/2011 11:48:42 AM

If you can get around on an ATV, why not a UTV?

6/23/2011 3:22:52 PM

not sure he would want to pay $11k for a glorified 4-wheeler...



and yes, yes, those fuckers are ultimately badass
http://www.utvreport.com/ecors-the-flats-utv-pictures-videos-t12.html




[Edited on June 23, 2011 at 3:49 PM. Reason : -]

6/23/2011 3:48:11 PM

Who said anything about $11k?

6/23/2011 4:28:05 PM

polaris rzr's are 11-15k new...

you could get a used JD gator for a few thou

6/23/2011 4:48:23 PM

22RE Yota. They cost money for a reason.

6/23/2011 7:19:20 PM

Quote :

"lol i got nothing on the topic but we had a bike named suzuki samurai in India"

I came here to post that!

6/23/2011 7:30:55 PM

lost title IS easy IF the current owners are titled owners.

if the last person on the title was 2-3 owners ago, then yeah, the process is a huge pain, as far as I've read

6/24/2011 10:26:20 AM

^ I'd agree with that. It really just depends on whether you can get the title holder onboard to order a new title and transfer it to you. If you don't know who it was last registered to it's going to be a huge pain that I wouldn't even waste my time with on a <$5k vehicle.

Quote :

"Apparently since the truck has no title, and he bought it without a title from a family member, it looks like a massive headache in the title department."

Is it registered to the previous family member?



That one Dr Pepper posted looks reasonably priced from what I've seen. I might check it out if it wasn't a tintop.


[Edited on June 24, 2011 at 11:41 AM. Reason : l]

6/24/2011 11:39:34 AM

tintop?

6/24/2011 12:37:15 PM

tin-top = not a removable soft top

6/24/2011 1:13:15 PM

what would be the best "poor man's UTV?"

like some kind of super off-road gokart?

1500 dollarsish maybe?

have a bunch of property and was thinking of cobbling together a makeshift track. want to keep costs down so i can buy at least 2 of them.

150cc engine maybe? let me know what brands/models are good.

thanks!

6/24/2011 1:27:24 PM

^
1. talk to baonest
2. let them rent your land for their rallycross shenanigans
3. profit
4. buy whatever you want

6/24/2011 2:00:50 PM

^^ Most everything in that price range is going to be Chinese junk. Joyner and Carter seem to be relatively big players, but I think they both use Chinese engines. I'd just get a pair of Honda 400EX's for what you're talking about doing.

6/24/2011 2:40:05 PM

nah im a pussy and would like a rollcage.

6/24/2011 2:42:05 PM

Quote :

"I'd just get a pair of Honda 400EX's for what you're talking about doing"

yeah, older models go for $1800ish.... excellent reliability.... 65mph stock.... will wheelie all fucking day

6/24/2011 3:39:04 PM

They're well built for sure. Good power and gearing for woods riding and general cruising. My Rancher 400 has the same engine I believe. I wish it had the manual tranny rather than the overpriced and less reliable CVT that Honda puts in them.

[Edited on June 24, 2011 at 4:53 PM. Reason : s]

6/24/2011 4:52:34 PM

I've got friends that have been fixing up samurais for a few years, and they love them. If you do some looking, you can find one pretty cheap and get it going.

6/25/2011 5:48:06 PM

just for everyone:

Quote :

"My Rancher 400 has the same engine I believe. I wish it had the manual tranny rather than the overpriced and less reliable CVT that Honda puts in them."

no. the 400ex engine was pulled from the xr400 back in 1999. any of the foreman/rancher/recon engines are of a different series... not to mention they are 'transerse' where the crank is perpendicular to the axles.


that is all

6/26/2011 8:49:54 AM

Good to know...I just assumed that 400cc engines from the same manufacturer and the same year would all be the same. Makes sense that they would use a motocross engine in the EX though.

6/26/2011 6:15:48 PM

http://www.hammerheadoffroad.com/ss250.html

what about this?

6/29/2011 8:43:07 AM

Quote :

"Even thought these Twister Hammerhead machines are some of the better made Chinese go karts, that does not mean that they are perfect. In my case, it was far from "perfect". Almost immediately, my stock muffler fell apart. TJ Powersports was very good to honor the warranty and send me a new exhaust system. That one also began to rattle apart, but after several attempts to get something to hold together, I finally modified the exhaust and came up with something that held together. Airbox design was poor and dirt was getting past the air filter, so I replaced the stock airbox assembly with a UNI filter and an Outerwears sock. I modified the carburetor and removed the electric choke that had a tendency to get stuck ON and kill performance. For easier starts, I added a primer pump to inject fuel into the intake for cold starts. Rubber boots and other rubber pieces disintegrated quickly - typical cheap Chinese materials. Electrical harness shorted out (poorly routed across a sharp edge) and killed the machine until I could find out why it died. Front shocks eventually went bad and became "pogo sticks" causing the front end to bounce badly on bumps. A used set of motorcycle shocks off eBay helped fix that. The front suspension bushings also wore out quickly, and needed to be replaced. There were many things that wore out or broke, but thankfully many of them were relatively small issues. I know how to work on my own equipment, so it was not that bad for me. To give this Twister Hammerhead kart some credit, it is still running and it has had a hard life around here. It has racked a LOT of hours of abuse (around 200 hours), and keeps running strong. I've done quite a few mods to it and the kids really enjoy driving it. Keep in mind that even with all the problems I had with mine, this Twister Hammerhead is one of the better made Chinese off road go karts. I pity the person who is not mechanically inclined (or motivated to learn) that buys one of the cheap junk brands of Chinese go karts! My advice is to save your money so you can buy something that is better quality from a brand that has a good reputation. In the past, I spent a lot of time tinkering on my Twister Hammerhead go kart to try to make it better and it's one of the better ones. Not everyone will want (or have the tools and ability) to work on their own machines as much. "

http://www.kartpowersports.com/twister-hammerhead.htm

Probably a pretty realistic owner experience for one of those Chinese karts; and this is from someone who actually likes them. You're either always replacing something or you're running it into the ground and it'lll be trash in a few years. Buy at your own risk.

6/29/2011 9:38:58 AM